For the first time in the Netherlands, an attempt is being made to temporarily and safely open the blood-brain barrier, the brain’s natural protective mechanism, in people with a brain disorder. Sound waves are used for this. The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) is starting research into this technique together with other hospitals. The idea is that these sound waves can be used to better treat brain disorders.
Treatment with sound waves
Initially, it will be investigated how this treatment with sound waves works in children and adults with a malignant brain (stem) tumor. Neurosurgeon Marike Broekman is involved from the LUMC. She and her team are looking at which (new) medicines are suitable for this technique and which can make a difference for patients with, for example, a malignant brain tumor.
Inaccessible
The blood-brain barrier ensures that the brain is well protected against hazardous substances. It therefore serves a very good purpose, but this barrier often literally stands in the way of treatment in patients with brain disorders. This natural protective mechanism also makes the brain largely inaccessible to drugs, making treatments for many brain disorders ineffective.
A technology that does not require surgery and that temporarily opens the blood-brain barrier to allow drugs to pass is the Focused-Ultrasound (FUS) technology. Thanks to this technology, existing and new drugs can be tested for effectiveness by allowing them to penetrate better into the brain. The technology will be used in the treatment of brain tumors and tested for safety in Alzheimer’s disease. It is expected that even more brain disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and depression, can be treated better with this technique.
The blood-brain barrier explained
FUS-technology
FUS is an innovative MRI-driven technology that uses targeted sound vibrations and microbubbles in the blood to temporarily and very locally open the blood vessels in the brain without having to open the skull. This way medicines get to the right place in the brain. The technique has been shown to be safe in previous research and is currently being investigated in treatment studies in the United States and Canada, among others. Nowhere in Europe is this technique applied in this way.
Four-year study launched
This research is being conducted by the Princess Máxima Center, UMC Utrecht, the LUMC and Amsterdam UMC. By collaborating with experts in the field of various brain disorders in the FUS study, the team hopes to achieve faster results for as many patients as possible. The study will take approximately four years to complete. First, the technology will be primed so that everything works properly. After that, both children and adults with a certain type of brain tumor will be treated with an existing drug. The patients are followed over time to study effects. At the same time, more potentially effective drugs against these types of brain tumors are being looked at so that these drugs can also be tested in follow-up studies.
The research is funded by the Brain Foundation.
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